


Syzygy

by xcetera



Series: Weird SVT AUs [3]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Psychics/Psionics, Gen, I'm just not going to tag relationships because they're not exceptionally relevant, chapter one is perf unit centric, chapter two will focus more on everyone else, dance-based psychic abilities, idolverse, kinda. I don't know how else to describe it, performance unit, unit friendship focuses mostly but others here and there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:53:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29550993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xcetera/pseuds/xcetera
Summary: Every dancer knows that energy is a nearly tangible thing in a performance. For Soonyoung, it has always been a touch more literal.The last thing he expects is for his unit to feel it, too.
Series: Weird SVT AUs [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2153784
Comments: 14
Kudos: 32





	1. Start Small

**Author's Note:**

> Syzygy: an astronomy term meaning a roughly straight-line configuration of three or more celestial bodies in a gravitational system. In other words, an alignment.
> 
> Alright. Dance-based psychic power idolverse, here we come. The timeline for this doesn't ever get very specific, but it starts during preparations for Going Seventeen (the EP, not the reality show), so October or November of 2016.

“Okay,” Soonyoung said. “Final runthrough. If we nail it this time, we’re done for the day, okay?”

The members of performance unit nodded, determination on all their faces. They had been practicing for hours. This was their song, their spotlight dance, and they were going to do it _perfectly_.

Soonyoung started the music and took his spot in the formation. The first strains of “Highlight” filled the air, and they launched in.

As the vocals began, Soonyoung felt the energy building around them and grinned. He could feel it like it was a tangible thing—the energy created by a performance. Usually, it was strongest when they were onstage, but this practice was special. Right now, with just the four of them and no audience, not even a camera, they were creating the energy of a real performance.

He lost himself to the rhythm, to the familiar choreography and the surging energy around them, not coming back to himself until the final chord and their last pose. He felt the music cut off like a physical impact, leaving him panting.

He had never felt it quite like that. Usually there were small mistakes or variations, no matter how much they practiced, but this time was nothing like that. Every step in sync, every beat hit in time, every movement forming a whole bigger than any of them… _perfect._

Chan and Minghao promptly dropped to the ground, breathing hard. “Did you guys feel that?” Chan asked breathlessly.

Junhui and Minghao nodded wordlessly, still trying to catch their breath. Soonyoung stared at them. They had felt it too?

Chan looked up at him. “Did you not feel it, hyung?”

“Feel what?” Soonyoung asked. He had to know for sure what they were talking about before he said anything.

Chan gestured vaguely. “The…tension. Atmosphere. Something. We were all in sync, and I could tell we were doing it perfectly…even when I couldn’t see you guys. You seriously didn’t feel it? I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

Junhui and Minghao nodded, confirming that they had felt the same.

“No, I felt it,” Soonyoung said. He couldn’t believe it. He had always been alone in this. He had tried explaining it before, but no one ever seemed to _get_ it, and here Chan was, describing it as closely as it was possible to get with words.

“Then why didn’t you say you did?” Minghao asked. “If you felt it, you would’ve known instantly what he was talking about.”

“He had to feel it,” Chan argued. “Come on, _you_ felt it. Our synchronization was flawless, hyung. How could he have fit so perfectly if he couldn’t feel it? No one dances that well, not even Soonyoung-hyung.”

Junhui nodded. “He was right there with us. Every move.” He glanced at Soonyoung. “So…why are you confused about it?”

“I always feel it,” Soonyoung confessed. “I had to be sure—no one else ever does. You guys never have before. It’s always been just me.”

The other three stared at him.

“I’ve tried to tell a few people in the past. They never knew what I was talking about. They’d claim to get it—you know, like all dancers talk about energy. But you guys felt it this time. You know it’s different. Whenever we perform, that energy is there. It’s usually weaker during practice, especially with new choreography, because we’re not confident in it yet. But when we get it right and when we’re onstage, it feels like that.” He sat down next to them. “That was way more intense than usual, though.”

Minghao’s brow furrowed. “So why did we feel it this time?”

Soonyoung shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Do you know what it is? How it works?”

“Nope. I’m used to it, so I can do some things with it—I use it to pick out mistakes and rough spots in practice—but I don’t know what it is or why I can feel it.”

Junhui finally joined them on the floor. “So that’s how you do it? I always kind of wondered. You can always spot mistakes, even when you’re dancing with us and you shouldn’t be able to see everyone.”

Soonyoung’s lips quirked. “Yeah, I know. I’m pretty sure Mingyu and Seokmin think I’m actually psychic.”

“Aren’t you, though?” Minghao pointed out.

Soonyoung shrugged. “I don’t think of it that way. It’s not a superpower. Besides, you guys can feel it now, so it’s not like I’m special.”

The other members traded doubtful looks at that, but they let it go. Junhui stretched his arms and changed the subject. “Aaah, I don’t want that to be our last runthrough now,” he said. “That felt incredible. You think it’ll be like that every time?”

“We’ll find out,” Soonyoung said with a shrug. “But not today. Look at us, we’re exhausted. We can do this again tomorrow.”

0o0o0

Junhui burst into the studio, buzzing with excitement. “Let’s do this!”

“Hyung, we need to stretch,” Chan reminded him.

Junhui pouted. “I _know._ ” He leaned down and pressed his hands flat against the floor. “Come on, you can’t tell me you’re not excited.”

Soonyoung laughed. “I figured we wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the new choreo until we tried ‘Highlight,’ so we’ll start with that.”

They stretched and limbered up, preparing for a long session. Soonyoung cued up ‘Highlight.’ “One time through, then we’ll work on other choreo,” he warned. “We’ve got this down, so we can’t justify spending a lot of time on it today. We have too much to work on.”

His unit nodded seriously, but he could see them getting excited. He smiled and started the music.

The energy swirled around them as if it had been waiting for them to begin, building quickly as they went through familiar motions. They were in perfect sync from the first chord, matching each other exactly, like a well-oiled machine.

When the music faded, it left them breathless and grinning. “That was even better than yesterday,” Junhui said, eyes glowing. “This is amazing.”

0o0o0

Soonyoung surveyed his unit. “Are you guys sure you’re okay?”

“We’ve only been here for four hours, hyung,” Chan said, but the way he slumped against the wall spoke volumes.

“I don’t understand,” Minghao said. “We go for longer than this all the time. Why are we so tired?” He looked up at Soonyoung. “You’re fine.”

“It’s the energy,” Jun mumbled from where he was sprawled out on the floor.

“What about it?” Minghao asked.

“It’s pulling us in.”

Soonyoung’s eyes widened. “It’s because you aren’t used to it yet! You’re working harder than usual. It’s firing you up, pulling you into giving your all. No wonder you’re exhausted.” He plopped down on the floor next to them. “I’ll cut practice short today.”

“We have so much work to do, though,” Jun said.

“Don’t worry about it. We can’t have any of you getting hurt, and besides, today has been really productive. The energy may be tiring you out, but it’s also making you better. We got at least as much work done as we usually do.”

“Did we really?” Chan asked. He slid down the wall to join the others on the floor.

Soonyoung nodded. “You guys don’t have anything to compare with, but I can feel how much quicker we’re going. There aren’t as many mistakes, and you can feel how I’m doing it, so it takes less time to get the moves right. We’re right on track.”

0o0o0

Chan grabbed his water bottle and wandered over to Soonyoung and Junhui. “It feels so different with all of us,” he said, pitching his voice low so the other members wouldn’t hear.

They nodded. “We’re more synchronized than they are,” Soonyoung murmured. “I’m going to have to drill them pretty hard to keep the formation from looking strange. If we’re perfectly matched and the other units are off, it’ll be obvious to the audience. Since we’re performance unit, some differences are acceptable, but we can’t be too much better than the others.”

Minghao grimaced. “I can feel every mistake. It’s like wrong notes.”

“I’m sure we used to be like that too, Hao. Cut them some slack. They’re not psychic,” Jun said.

“We’re not psychic, either,” Soonyoung said.

“Well, it is extrasensory perception, hyung,” Chan pointed out. “We can feel things other people can’t. I’d call that psychic.”

“It’s not like we hear thoughts,” Soonyoung grumbled.

“We can feel each other’s movements,” Minghao said. “You can track everyone’s mistakes even when you can’t see us.”

“I am _not_ psychic.” Soonyoung opened his water bottle with more force than necessary. “Anyway, you guys can help me weed out the mistakes. Correct the wrong notes. It’ll never be perfect, but they’ll get close. They’re good dancers.”

The other three traded looks, but they let him change the subject. “How close to perfect do you need?” Minghao asked.

Soonyoung raised his eyebrows. “What, you don’t know? Same as always. As close as possible. Trust me, if I could get them perfect, I would. I actually, literally can’t. I’ve tried. We get damn close, but it never quite clicks.” He sighed. “We’ll have to settle for good enough.”

0o0o0

Mingyu nudged Minghao with his shoulder. “Do you know this one?”

“Nope.” Minghao nudged him back, a little harder. Soonyoung was jamming away to the girl group song, but it wasn’t one Minghao was familiar with.

Mingyu knocked their shoulders together again. Minghao scowled and shoved him. Mingyu stumbled a few steps, laughed, and draped his arm around Minghao’s shoulders.

Minghao shook his head, letting a smile slip onto his face.

“Performance unit dance!”

Minghao looked up just in time to be dragged into the middle and shoved into a formation next to Junhui and Chan. “I don’t know—”

“Just follow along!” Soonyoung called brightly, launching back into the choreography as the song reached its catchy chorus.

Minghao almost backed out of the middle, but then he felt the energy swirl over his skin. Experimentally, he mimicked Soonyoung’s movements, slightly behind him.

It only took a few seconds to fall into the rhythm of the dance, the energy around them telling Minghao how to move next. Just like with their own choreography, he could feel the other three beside him, moving in sync.

“Formation change!” Soonyoung called with an elated laugh, and the energy shifted to reflect just that. Minghao chuckled himself as they effortlessly swapped places. They all hit the last pose together with a dramatic flourish.

The sound of the other members cheering and catcalling faded into his hearing. 

Minghao stepped back from the center, trying to tame his smile. The energy from dancing left him exhilarated, riding high on a buzz only the performance unit could feel.

Mingyu appeared next to him, smirking. “Thought you said you didn’t know that one.”

Minghao shrugged. “I don’t.”

“You sure? That looked pretty practiced.”

“I don’t even know that song.”

“Are you saying _that_ was just following along with Soonyoung?” Wonwoo asked, disbelief coloring his voice. “That’s insane. You can do that?”

“When you’re a really good dancer, you get psychic powers, hyung,” Chan explained very seriously. Wonwoo rolled his eyes and swatted him lightly.

“My unit’s just that good, Wonwoo-yah,” Soonyoung said, draping his arm around Wonwoo’s shoulders. “It’s okay, you can say it. Performance unit is way cooler than hip-hop unit.”

Mingyu scoffed. “As if, hyung.”

0o0o0

Junhui laughed and reached in to grab another piece of meat, but he paused with his chopsticks halfway to the grill as a whisper of familiar energy traced through the air around him. He glanced up, not entirely sure what he was looking for, and immediately zeroed in on Soonyoung, who was doing a little dance next to the other table. Nothing big, not even anything that Junhui would call freestyling, just a little sway and bop of his shoulders.

Soonyoung looked up, as if he could feel Junhui’s eyes on him. Then he glanced to the side. Junhui followed his gaze and saw Chan and Minghao both looking Soonyoung’s way, just as Junhui had.

Maybe this would finally convince Soonyoung that they were psychic. Surely there was no other way to explain being able to sense when one of them started dancing? This wasn’t just “enhanced spatial awareness” or whatever Soonyoung kept trying to tell them. Junhui hadn’t even known what he was looking for.

Soonyoung’s eyes flickered back to Junhui. Then he straightened his shoulders and determinedly focused on his food.

Junhui sighed and glanced back to Minghao and Chan, finding them looking his way. Minghao looked exasperated. Chan just looked surprised.

Junhui shrugged. There wasn’t much he could do about this with Soonyoung so determined to ignore it.

Still, when they finished their meal and left the restaurant, Junhui danced along the sidewalk next to Jihoon, who just rolled his eyes and smiled fondly. A ripple of energy fluttered in the air, and Chan materialized next to them a moment later, giggling and falling into step with Junhui.

When Junhui looked ahead for Soonyoung’s reaction, all he saw was a determinedly still set of shoulders walking next to Wonwoo without looking back.

0o0o0

“Hey, Soonyoung-hyung—oh.” Chan abruptly dropped his voice to a whisper. “He’s asleep.”

Hansol poked Chan. “We should let him sleep. Come on, let’s go.”

“No, let’s put it online,” Seungkwan said, pulling out his phone. “Carats like to see that we’re resting, and he’s already in makeup and everything. Channie, go pose behind him.”

Chan sighed. “Pose how?” he asked, already resigned to a demand for aegyo.

“Three set aegyo,” Hansol said instantly.

“Why? I don’t want to,” Chan whined.

“Then just dance or something. I’ll do a video,” Seungkwan said, derailing the argument before they got too loud.

Chan stepped behind the couch and, at Seungkwan’s signal, rolled his arms through a wave before shifting into a casual popping sequence that let him throw in some robot moves. He grinned when he heard Hansol giggle.

Suddenly, Soonyoung moved, and Chan ducked down to hide. “Channie?” Soonyoung asked groggily.

“Wow, our Hoshi-hyung is so tuned to leading our dancing that he wakes up when it happens around him,” Seungkwan whispered loudly.

“Are you filming?” Soonyoung complained, awake enough to play along. “Yeesh, Seungkwannie, hyung needs sleep.”

Chan sighed to himself and poked his head over the back of the couch with a wide-eyed look plastered on his face. Soonyoung looked up. “Aha, there you are.”

“How did you even know it was me?” Chan put a little bit of a whine into his voice for the camera.

“Performance leader dance-sensing powers,” Soonyoung said easily.

 _Oh._ The energy from Chan’s dancing had woken him up.

Chan laughed and shook his head. “Go back to sleep, hyung, we still have some time.”

“Aaaaand cut,” Seungkwan said. He tapped away at his phone. “I think Carats will like that a lot.”

“If we still have time, I really am going back to sleep,” Soonyoung said.

“We have at least another half hour,” Seungkwan confirmed. “Don’t worry. We’ll come back and make sure you wake up. Go to sleep, hyung.”

“Sorry,” Chan murmured.

Soonyoung yawned. “It’s fine. Just don’t do it again.” His head dropped back against the couch, and in a minute he was out again.

0o0o0

Minghao glanced up at the whisper of energy against his skin. Chan ambled through the door, looking down at his phone.

Minghao blinked and looked around. Junhui and Soonyoung were nowhere to be seen. It was definitely Chan that Minghao was sensing, but Chan wasn’t dancing.

Chan paused, fingers going still against his screen. He looked up. “Hyung?”

“You feel it too, right?”

Chan nodded. “But we’re not dancing.”

“I don’t know.” Minghao raised his hands and ran through a quick series of finger-tuts. The energy strengthened around them. “Hmm.”

“Minghao?” Soonyoung asked. A moment later, he stepped through the door. “Felt you dancing.”

“You could tell it was me?”

Chan twisted through a fluid movement, and the energy in the room took on a different vibe. “Whoa. Has it always been like this?”

“I mean, probably? I don’t know why it would change…but I’ve never noticed it before.” Soonyoung grooved a little, adding his own signature to the energy. “When I felt it, my brain went ‘oh, that’s Minghao.’ It took me a second to realize it was weird that I could tell.”

“He sensed me when I came in, too, even though I wasn’t dancing,” Chan said.

“So…we’re getting more sensitive? Or it’s getting stronger…” Minghao mused.

“Or we’re learning how to use it,” Soonyoung said. There was an odd edge to his voice. “We’ve been practicing with it almost nonstop. Is it a surprise that we’re getting better at it?”

“You’ve had it your whole life, but it hasn’t done this before, right?” Minghao asked.

Soonyoung shook his head. “But I’ve always used it alone. There’s never been anybody else to feel, and it’s different with all four of us. Together, we’re stronger.”

Chan grooved in place, making the energy shift again. “This is so cool,” he breathed. “And so weird. Hyung, we’re psychic.”

Soonyoung sighed. “We’re not psychic,” he grumbled, but he didn’t sound sure anymore.

0o0o0

“Hey, hyung,” Chan said without looking up.

“Hey, Channie,” two voices responded.

Chan looked up, mildly surprised. “Oh, Wonwoo-hyung, hey.”

Wonwoo gave Chan an odd look. “You knew Junhui was here, but not me?”

Chan just shrugged. It wasn’t like he could say he’d sensed the change in the air as Junhui entered. The energy didn’t respond to Wonwoo the same way.

Wonwoo was perceptive, and he had definitely noticed the changes in the performance unit’s behavior as they got better at reading the energy. He knew something was up, but the truth was too strange to guess. His curiosity was obvious, but Chan wasn’t going to tell him anything without discussing it with the rest of the performance unit, especially not when Soonyoung was actively trying to hide it.

Chan didn’t know for sure why Soonyoung was so reluctant to tell the rest of the group, but he suspected it was because Soonyoung didn’t want to be treated like he had superpowers. Whenever any of the performance unit implied that he was special, he reacted badly. Truthfully, Chan wasn’t eager to tell them either. He didn’t mind the idea of being psychic, but he wasn’t sure how the rest of the group would react. Even if they knew, they wouldn’t be able to feel the energy. They would only be clued in on exactly what made them such outsiders to the performance unit. Was it better to let them know just what they were missing, or to keep the secret?

There was nothing for it. Chan wasn’t going to tell them. The truth would come out eventually, but it wouldn’t be today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is an odd place to cut it off, but this was the best place to break it up when I looked at what I'd written for this au. Chapter two to follow, in which we'll see more of the rest of Seventeen.


	2. Finish Big

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline is still left vague, but the first scene here takes place during Al1 promotions. The rest of the chapter stretches into preparations for Teen Age.

Jihoon stiffened as he felt it again. The trace of…something…in the air, brushing his skin and heightening his awareness of his surroundings.

He had felt it for the first time yesterday. Soonyoung had grabbed him and pulled him into a dance, startling a smile out of him. They’d danced and sung for one song, and by the end of it, this strange energy had been swirling around them. Soonyoung hadn’t seemed to notice anything unusual.

It had been grabbing his attention at seemingly random moments since then. He’d been trying to find a pattern, but there didn’t seem to be one. It happened around Soonyoung, but it also happened when Soonyoung wasn’t there. It varied in strength, but it hadn’t gotten as strong as it had been while they were dancing. And today, he had been feeling it on and off since waking up.

Jihoon had no idea what it was. He wanted to know if Soonyoung felt it too, but he didn’t want to say anything. It sounded crazy, and he couldn’t explain anything about it.

He hoped it didn’t distract him during their stage. He couldn’t afford to lose focus during a performance.

He joined the knot of members waiting to go onstage, and the feeling immediately strengthened. Jihoon sighed.

“That’s an awfully heavy sigh,” Soonyoung said, slinging an arm around Jihoon’s shoulders. “We haven’t even done anything yet.”

Jihoon shrugged the shoulder Soonyoung wasn’t leaning on. “Fighting,” he offered.

Soonyoung grinned. “Fighting!”

Jihoon pushed him off to stretch his shoulders. Soonyoung grooved in place, apparently bursting with energy. “What’s got you so fired up?” Soonyoung was always raring to go for live performances, but he was almost twitchy today.

“I don’t know. I’ve got a good feeling. I can’t put my finger on why, but today is looking good.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help a smile. “Don’t use up all that energy onstage. You’ll make the rest of us look bad.”

Soonyoung laughed. “What, I don’t do that already?”

Seungcheol joined them. “Alright, let’s go.” He held out his hand, and the other members gathered around to do their pre-show cheer. “We’ve shown our fans a good face, but promotions aren’t over yet. Let’s do our best to the end. One, two, three—”

“Fighting!” They poured out onto the stage and took their starting positions.

As the music swelled, Jihoon felt the energy in the air again. It sang against his skin as he snapped through well-practiced moves, nudging him to make tiny adjustments as he went. He adapted without even thinking, sliding into the rhythm of the song. He could feel the way he fell into sync with the other members, even as small differences twanged in discord against the harmony.

When the music ended, the energy faded into a weaker buzz. Jihoon was breathing hard, electricity humming in his veins.

The studio audience cheered and clapped, just like they always did. Everything was as it always was.

Why did this feel so different?

Energy crackled under his skin as they cleared the stage. It was faint now that they weren’t dancing, but it hadn’t left him yet.

“Hyung?”

Jihoon looked up to find Chan and Minghao staring at him. “What?” He reached up to check his hair. “Is something wrong?”

“No, that’s not—” Chan’s voice lowered to a whisper, so quiet Jihoon had to step closer to hear. “You felt the energy? You clicked with us perfectly.”

Jihoon’s eyes widened. “You feel it too?”

Junhui dropped his arm on Jihoon’s shoulder. “When did that happen? It’s only ever been performance unit.”

Soonyoung burst in between Chan and Minghao, eyes wide. “You can feel it,” he breathed.

Jihoon nodded. “Yeah, but—”

“When?”

“Yesterday, when we danced together?”

Soonyoung grinned. “So to get the other members—”

“Soonyoung. Slow down. Explain what’s happening. I’ve been confused since yesterday.”

Soonyoung took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When he spoke again, he was calmer. “We shouldn’t talk about this here. We don’t know a lot, but I’ll explain what we do know later, okay?”

“Fine, just—answer one question for me. This whole thing is centered around dancing?”

Soonyoung blinked. “Yeah? As far as we can tell.”

“So there is a pattern. That was driving me crazy. It seemed so random.”

“We’ll go out tonight and show you what we’ve figured out,” Soonyoung promised.

0o0o0

Jihoon slumped against the wall. Long dance practices were always tiring, but this bone-deep exhaustion didn’t usually hit until the third day with no sleep.

Soonyoung plopped down next to him. “Here.” He held out a water bottle and a snack bar. “You’re not used to the energy yet. It fires you up, but it can be pretty draining, too. It really pulls you into giving all you’ve got, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. I can feel it falling into place, though. We’re getting better.”

“Yeah, we are. I wish I could take it easy on you. When it was just my unit, I could cut practice short, but right now we really do need to keep working.”

“I understand. I’ll be fine.” Jihoon closed his eyes. “Just give me a few minutes.”

“Don’t collapse on me. If you think it’ll get to that point, sit out.”

Jihoon knew he wouldn’t. When he had first become a trainee, practice had been just as overwhelming and exhausting as this. He’d made it through that once; he could do it again. He would just have to get as much sleep as possible until he got used to the energy’s pull.

“Let me know when you’re ready.” Soonyoung patted his shoulder and moved away.

Jihoon allowed himself a couple more minutes before sighing and opening his eyes. Time to gulp some water, eat his snack bar, and get back to work.

0o0o0

“I need to drown my sorrows,” Soonyoung announced as he threw open the door.

Jihoon lifted his head and scowled blearily at him. “And why the fuck, pray tell, do you have to wake me up to do it?” he mumbled.

Soonyoung dropped onto the bed next to him, fending off Jihoon’s immediate strike with the pillow. “I tried to get Seokmin and Seungkwan. Didn’t work.”

Jihoon blinked a few times as he processed that. The gears in his head heaved themselves into motion. “Uh, energy-wise?”

“Yep.”

“That makes…three in a row that didn’t work?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“So…drowning your sorrows.”

“Yeah, in ramyun. Wanna come?”

Jihoon pursed his lips. “…yeah. Give me a few minutes.”

Soonyoung grinned. “I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

0o0o0

“Soonyoung!” Jihoon burst into the practice room, interrupting the music. “It’s the flow state!”

The performance unit stumbled to a halt. Soonyoung sighed. “What are you talking about, Jihoon? We were so close to figuring this rough spot out—”

“Vocal unit just had a jam session, and now they’re all feeling the energy. It’s the _flow state,_ Soonyoung! That’s why your little song-and-dance routine didn’t work on anyone else!”

The performance unit gaped at him. Chan was the first to find his voice. “All of vocal unit?”

“Yes, because singing draws them all in, like dancing does for you guys. I didn’t plan it—I’m not sure it can be forced—but it made them _click._ ”

Soonyoung opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off by the rest of the vocal unit clattering into the practice room. “Jihoon, what the fuck,” Jeonghan gasped. “What is going on?”

Soonyoung’s jaw dropped. “Jihoonie, you didn’t explain anything to them?”

“It’s not like there’s a lot to explain, Soonyoung. We’re all operating in the dark here.”

“True, but did you even say _anything_ before rushing out and sprinting down here?”

“He said ‘It’s the flow state,’ but that didn’t help,” Seungkwan muttered.

Jihoon’s ears turned pink. “Um.”

Junhui giggled. “He was too distracted by his epiphany.”

“Ooh, big word,” Jihoon grumbled. “Whatever, it’s better this way, anyway. We can dance in here.”

“Okay, somebody explain, please?” Jisoo threw his hands up. “Doesn’t have to be Jihoon. What is happening?”

Jihoon and Soonyoung looked at each other. A short nonverbal argument ensued, and then Soonyoung sighed and turned to the vocal unit. “You all felt the energy around you when you were singing?”

The vocal unit members nodded.

“Performance unit has been feeling that while dancing for months. Jihoon started feeling it a few weeks ago. We don’t know what it is or why we can feel it, but we can use it.” His eyes lit up. “You’ll be in sync now! Wow, this is going to be awesome—well, you guys will feel like you’re dying, but it’s going to be so good—”

“What he’s trying to say is,” Jihoon interrupted, “you’re psychic now. Congratulations. It’s going to make you better dancers.”

“We’re _psychic?!_ ” Seokmin screeched.

“We’re not psychic,” Soonyoung grumbled, but he had lost conviction in that argument long ago.

“This literally explains nothing,” Jeonghan said flatly.

Minghao sighed and backed up to give himself some space before launching into a quick sequence of hip hop moves, instantly silencing everyone in the room. Energy flared around him as he tossed himself through a dolphin dive and finished with a rather sarcastic flourish.

“Yeah, that,” Soonyoung said into the silence. “When we dance—and apparently when you sing—this energy reacts to us and heightens our senses. We can feel each other’s movements and synchronize easily. Everyone’s got their own vibe, and it’s not _quite_ a five-senses thing—”

“Psychic,” Junhui put in.

Soonyoung just shrugged. “It happens outside the practice room, too. Basically, any major changes in performance unit’s behavior since the release of ‘Highlight’? They’re because of this.”

“So, what, it just kind of _happened_ one day?” Jisoo asked. “Where did it come from?”

Soonyoung’s shoulders tensed. “I’ve been able to feel it for as long as I can remember,” he admitted. “I don’t know why. I don’t think about it too much. But with you guys feeling it too, we have more answers now than I’ve ever had.”

0o0o0

Seungkwan hummed absently as they walked, making up a tune as he went. Jisoo listened for a moment and then joined in with a soft harmony. Energy floated gently in the air between them, catching the attention of the other members.

Soonyoung hopped in with a lower harmony. Seokmin closed his eyes, absorbing the quiet song, before adding his own counterpoint. Jihoon slipped easily into the building harmonies and glanced up at Jeonghan expectantly. Jeonghan tapped his fingers to the rhythm and hummed Seungkwan’s melody for a few seconds before breaking off onto his own line.

Seungkwan’s eyes fell on Hansol, who was listening with an awestruck expression. Oh, that was right. Hansol couldn’t feel the ebb and flow of energy that was letting them harmonize so effortlessly, not a single note out of place. What felt like child’s play probably looked a lot more impressive from the outside.

Junhui, Chan and Minghao slipped into the soft song with the same ease, leaving only the hip hop unit on the outside. None of them tried to join in, as if they knew they wouldn’t fit as well…or maybe because they were looking for patterns that didn’t exist in this improvised song.

Seungkwan tried to keep his frown off his face. It didn’t sit right with him to leave four members on the outside like this. Maybe he should tell Hansol about the energy. Would he be able to explain it if Hansol couldn’t feel it, though? And he wouldn’t be any less left out if he knew. Maybe if Seungkwan could get the hip hop unit into a jam session like Jihoon had with the vocal unit…

0o0o0

Jeonghan’s head snapped up as energy traced over his skin carrying Chan’s vibe. Chan sat at the table with Hansol and Mingyu, rapping quietly with a grin on his face. Jeonghan shifted to get a better angle without looking like he was staring. The energy swirled in the air, vibrant but without purpose or direction. It often did that around the performance unit, but he had never felt it for rap before. If this got hip hop unit members to feel it, he wanted to see.

Hansol laughed at something Chan had said and launched into his own freestyle rap. Mingyu laid down a beat, attracting Wonwoo’s attention.

Jeonghan nudged Seungcheol. “Your unit’s having a rap battle without you.”

Seungcheol looked up and grinned. “No, they’re not.” He darted over to the table.

Jisoo scooted into the space Seungcheol had left. “You think this will do it?”

“I think it’s closer than anything else has gotten.”

Hansol finished his rap, and Wonwoo jumped in. The energy changed subtly, becoming smoother to reflect the difference in his rap style.

“That’s a good sign,” Jisoo murmured. Jeonghan hummed in agreement. This was the first time the energy had responded to the hip hop unit like that.

Minghao dropped onto the couch next to them. “Is Channie doing what I think he’s doing?”

Wonwoo finished with a smirk, and Mingyu hopped in for his turn without hesitation. Hansol took up the beat seamlessly, falling easily into sync with Mingyu.

Another good sign. That was exactly the same kind of effortless coordination that had popped up at the vocal unit’s jam session.

Jeonghan held his breath as Mingyu dropped out, wordlessly cueing Seungcheol to take a turn.

When Seungcheol started speaking, the energy in the room _clicked._

Chan grinned, and Jeonghan felt his signature seep into the energy alongside Seungcheol’s. Seungcheol finished his verse and paused. Their little cipher needed a finale.

“So what, you think you got what it takes?” Chan said, raising his voice.

The hip hop unit spoke as one. “Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it!”

Chan sat back, satisfied with his work, as havoc broke out at the table.

“Damn, the kid’s good,” Jisoo murmured.

Minghao sighed. “They’re freaking out. Is he not going to explain?”

Jeonghan stood and sauntered over to the table, dropping an arm casually on Seungcheol’s shoulders. “Nice job, Channie.”

Mingyu’s eyes were wide. “What was that?!”

“How did we do that?” Wonwoo breathed. “That’s impossible, we shouldn’t have been able to say the same thing—”

“Okay,” Chan began. “So you all felt the energy when we were rapping, right? It wasn’t just atmosphere. It was really there. It’s like a sixth sense that connects you to the people you’re performing with. It lets you sync up. For performance unit, it lets us feel each other’s movements and coordinate our dancing flawlessly. For a rap—”

“Psychic cipher,” Wonwoo murmured.

“Well, Soonyoung-hyung would tell you we’re not psychic, but yeah. And since I’m used to it, I could direct the energy for a big finish.”

“Used to it?” Seungcheol said sharply. “How long has this been happening?”

Chan bit his lip. “A while. For performance unit, at least.”

“And it was a secret?” Seungcheol raised his gaze to meet Jeonghan’s.

“It wouldn’t have done anything, Cheol,” Jeonghan said evenly. “You wouldn’t have felt it. We didn’t know how to do it.”

“Then what Chan just did—”

“He’s a smart kid.”

“Does it work when you’re not dancing?” Wonwoo asked suddenly. “Because if it does, a lot of things make more sense now.”

Chan nodded. “Yeah. Performance unit…we’ve been using it long enough to feel it almost all the time.”

“So you really can feel it when they walk into a room. Or…when you joke about—oh my god, the time Minghao said he was just following along and didn’t actually know the dance—”

“Oh, I remember that,” Mingyu said. “That was weird. Has all the weird stuff been because of this?”

0o0o0

Seungcheol closed the door to the practice room and turned to Soonyoung and Jihoon. “Half an hour. That’s it. We’re supposed to be sleeping tonight, not spending all hours in the practice room.”

“Half an hour is plenty,” Jihoon assured him.

Soonyoung surveyed the group with a grin on his face. “This is the first time it’ll be all thirteen of us. My unit is used to it on our own, but I have a feeling this is going to be a little different.” he said. “Junnie, pick a song?”

“‘Aju Nice,’” Junhui offered.

“Good choice.” Soonyoung cued up the track as the members arranged themselves in the starting formation. “This is going to be awesome.”

The first few beats of “Aju Nice” filled the air, and they began to move.

Energy roared to life around them, electrifying the air. Usually there would be small mistakes and timing issues, even with all their practice, but now they moved as one. All thirteen of them fell into the rhythm, the harmony of their movement free of wrong notes at last.

When the song came to an end, half of the group dropped to the ground, and all of them were breathing hard. Soonyoung laughed breathlessly. “That was amazing!”

“You feel this every time?” Mingyu said, looking awed.

“The energy, yeah, but it’s never felt like _that_ before,” Soonyoung said. “Once you guys get past the initial exhaustion, we’re going to be so good.”

“Oh, no,” Jihoon said, but he was smiling. “Soonyoung’s been resigned for a while, but now perfection is in his reach. He’s going to kill us all.”

“If what we just did is any indication, I won’t have to!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because you know I wouldn't want to leave anyone out!
> 
> Writing rapping is hard, even when you don't try to come up with any lyrics.


End file.
